By Jain
Today is Sunday and it's seems the town is pretty quiet. We eat a light breakfast of coffee and scones (Jay says they are more like leftover biscuits) and we decide to skip on the hard scrambled eggs. For lunch we have booked a tour to The Raft Restaurant. The Raft restaurant is a floating restaurant on the Chobe River on the Namibian side. From Kasane it takes a short ten minutes to get there by boat.
Waiting for our tour driver we met a guy from North Carolina. He has visited here three times and says Chobe National Park is the greatest. He is just returning from a morning game drive and said it was pretty good; no leopard or cheetah sightings but they saw an 8 foot python in the middle of the road. Not my fantasy sighting, but after all we are in Africa aren't we?
The Raft restaurant was built from recycled remains from a broken down lodge in Namibia using it's scrap metal, scrap wood to makes its floors and ceilings and is held up by 7 floating pontoons and three anchors. It gets lovely breezes and has great views of the river complete with elephants, hippos and of course crocodiles. The restaurant accommodates about sixty five but today we are the only customers! They don't serve dinner because boats are not permitted on the Chobe during the evening hours, it has something to do with the immigration office being closed.
Lunch at the Raft was probably the best meal we have had to date, homemade bread, 2 kinds of salad, our choice of barbeque meat, beef, chicken, and roasted yams, potatoes and wine!. For dessert it was some kind of creamy coconut cake pudding. I thought it was pretty good but Jay declines desert since he hates coconut. He comments, "Where do they get coconuts here anyway?"
J. J. our tour guide and host was kind enough to keep us entertained during lunch and between crocodile sightings. After seeing crocodiles four feet beneath our table we felt like throwing them some food, but then again probably not a good idea. After all they're not fish; and this isn't Sea World.
J.J. likes to talk and he seems very well educated and up on current affairs. It is said most people of Botswana are comfortable to air their opinions and grievances as long as it is done in a polite way. He does so in a polite way. He is proud to tell us Botswana, since gaining their independence from Great Britain in 1966, has never had a civil war. Their flag has blue for the waters and white and black to denote harmony among its people, and that Botswana people think first of their country before race, tribes or regions. It is obvious he is a proud citizen.
Tonight we have invited our two English friends, Vaughn and Lorraine down the road to the Water Lily restaurant for dinner. We ate at the Water Lily a few nights ago, it wasn't great but not bad. (Wow what a recommendation!) We discuss foreign affairs and swap some travel stories. A big warthog crossed the path by the pool, and we are amused by the security guard attempting to shoo him out.
After our dinner we walk along the dark highway for a block back to the Old House. Unfortunately we forgot our flashlight but the stars above shine brightly and again it is a beautiful night. Tomorrow we will be leaving the funky Old House and making our way to camp Nkwazi in Zambia. Vaughn has offered to drive us to the ferry. Very nice gesture. If we are able to cross the border and get through the Visa process, the Nkwazi camp will pick us up on the Zambian Side. Here's hoping for a safe crossing.
Today is Sunday and it's seems the town is pretty quiet. We eat a light breakfast of coffee and scones (Jay says they are more like leftover biscuits) and we decide to skip on the hard scrambled eggs. For lunch we have booked a tour to The Raft Restaurant. The Raft restaurant is a floating restaurant on the Chobe River on the Namibian side. From Kasane it takes a short ten minutes to get there by boat.
Waiting for our tour driver we met a guy from North Carolina. He has visited here three times and says Chobe National Park is the greatest. He is just returning from a morning game drive and said it was pretty good; no leopard or cheetah sightings but they saw an 8 foot python in the middle of the road. Not my fantasy sighting, but after all we are in Africa aren't we?
The Raft restaurant was built from recycled remains from a broken down lodge in Namibia using it's scrap metal, scrap wood to makes its floors and ceilings and is held up by 7 floating pontoons and three anchors. It gets lovely breezes and has great views of the river complete with elephants, hippos and of course crocodiles. The restaurant accommodates about sixty five but today we are the only customers! They don't serve dinner because boats are not permitted on the Chobe during the evening hours, it has something to do with the immigration office being closed.
Lunch at the Raft was probably the best meal we have had to date, homemade bread, 2 kinds of salad, our choice of barbeque meat, beef, chicken, and roasted yams, potatoes and wine!. For dessert it was some kind of creamy coconut cake pudding. I thought it was pretty good but Jay declines desert since he hates coconut. He comments, "Where do they get coconuts here anyway?"
J. J. our tour guide and host was kind enough to keep us entertained during lunch and between crocodile sightings. After seeing crocodiles four feet beneath our table we felt like throwing them some food, but then again probably not a good idea. After all they're not fish; and this isn't Sea World.
J.J. likes to talk and he seems very well educated and up on current affairs. It is said most people of Botswana are comfortable to air their opinions and grievances as long as it is done in a polite way. He does so in a polite way. He is proud to tell us Botswana, since gaining their independence from Great Britain in 1966, has never had a civil war. Their flag has blue for the waters and white and black to denote harmony among its people, and that Botswana people think first of their country before race, tribes or regions. It is obvious he is a proud citizen.
Tonight we have invited our two English friends, Vaughn and Lorraine down the road to the Water Lily restaurant for dinner. We ate at the Water Lily a few nights ago, it wasn't great but not bad. (Wow what a recommendation!) We discuss foreign affairs and swap some travel stories. A big warthog crossed the path by the pool, and we are amused by the security guard attempting to shoo him out.
After our dinner we walk along the dark highway for a block back to the Old House. Unfortunately we forgot our flashlight but the stars above shine brightly and again it is a beautiful night. Tomorrow we will be leaving the funky Old House and making our way to camp Nkwazi in Zambia. Vaughn has offered to drive us to the ferry. Very nice gesture. If we are able to cross the border and get through the Visa process, the Nkwazi camp will pick us up on the Zambian Side. Here's hoping for a safe crossing.
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